Ex-sports chief to help prepare for 2025 National Games

Former sports commissioner Yeung Tak-keung, who stepped down from the post last year, will help the SAR in hosting the 15th National Games in 2025 along with Guangdong province and Macau, sources said.

According to the sources, Yeung will assist in the preparation of the games in other roles and that the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau is actively analyzing along with Guangdong authorities, which events Hong Kong should host.

The government will appoint former windsurfer Sam Wong Tak-sum, the husband of legendary windsurfer Lee Lai-shan, as the new sports commissioner, the sources said.

Wong, 58, and executive director of the Hong Kong Table Tennis Association, is a two-time Asian Games silver medalist in windsurfing in 1994 and 1998. He became a windsurfing coach at the Hong Kong Sports Institute in 2000 after retirement.

He was appointed as program manager for the athletes career and education program in 2008 and became Hong Kong Amateur Hockey Club executive director in 2017.

The sports commissioner is responsible for promoting sports in the community, supporting elite sports and fostering the city as a center for major international sports events. He is also tasked to increase and enhance the city's sports and recreation facilities, and encourage collaboration among communities in nurturing a strong sporting culture.

The position had been vacant since Yeung retired late last year, with Yeung's assistant Paul Cheng Ching-wan serving as acting commissioner.

Yeung last year said the authorities were unable to find a suitable successor within the government, so they proceeded with a public recruitment drive, and he encouraged retired athletes to apply.

Sources said the government also hoped the post would be taken by a former athlete to avoid accusations of insiders being regulated by outsiders if the post is taken up by a civil servant.

Meanwhile, nearly 70 percent of sports associations in Hong Kong have registered names to include "Hong Kong, China," the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China announced.

The committee earlier this year wrote to all sports associations requiring that they finish the name changing process by last Saturday, or they might not be eligible for funding.

It said that 58 of 83 had completed the process as requested, while the remaining 25 are expected to complete it by the end of this year.

Some sports associations may need more time to complete the process, which would be handled at their discretion while providing necessary assistance.